On September 15, the Military Industry - Telecommunications Group (Viettel) announced the official cessation of 2G network broadcasting nationwide, closing more than two decades of second-generation mobile technology being deployed in Vietnam.
According to Viettel, the group's mobile network was launched on October 15, 2004 with the prefix 098. On the 2G platform, the broadcasting station system was deployed to many difficult areas such as borders, high mountains, islands and oil rigs.
After 2G, Viettel launched a nationwide 3G network in 2010; launched 4G in 2017 and nationwide coverage after 4 months. In 2024, Viettel launched a 5G network.
According to Viettel, the condition for turning off 2G is that the coverage of replacement technology must be wider than the old coverage. Currently, Viettel's 4G coverage reaches 99.7% of the population, exceeding the coverage of the previous 2G network.
For 5G, Viettel aims to reach about 50,000 station locations in 2026, covering 97% of the population.
To prepare for the 2G signal shutdown, Viettel has implemented plans to support customers in converting equipment and technology. The number of subscribers still needing to switch to 4G/5G voice is reduced from 9.3 million by the end of 2025 to about 750,000 by September 15, 2026.
Thus, nearly 8.6 million subscribers have switched to new technology in more than 8 months. At the time of 2G signal shutdown, according to Viettel, 99% of network operator customers had fully used both voice and data on the 4G/5G network.
For the remaining customers, Viettel said it will continue to implement conversion support programs after turning off the station.
People who are using 4G phones but do not know that the device supports 4G voice calls can check by texting KT to send to 191 or contact switchboard 198 to be instructed to turn on the feature.
For devices that do not support 4G network voice, Viettel offers a temporary solution through the Vcall application, and also has a policy to subsidize phones with 4G network support buttons. The network operator also coordinates with partners to implement a program to collect old phones to exchange for 4G/5G smartphones.
